


The Kingdom By The Sounding Sea

by la_muerta



Series: Flash Bang #1 - Bingo (Team Green) [30]
Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ancient Greece, Alternate Universe - Magic, Assassin Magnus Bane, Atlantis, Everybody Dies, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Inspired by Poetry, M/M, Prince Alec Lightwood, Sad Ending, Star-crossed, fic bingo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-04-29
Packaged: 2019-04-29 14:25:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14474616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/la_muerta/pseuds/la_muerta
Summary: It was many and many a year ago,In a kingdom by the sea,That lived a prince that the gods had madeTo love and be loved by me.We loved with a love that was more than loveIn this kingdom by the sea,And the angels - not half so happy in Heaven,Went envying him and me.For the Shadowhunters Hiatus Flash Bang #1 - BingoSquare #12: Royalty AU





	The Kingdom By The Sounding Sea

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Accal1a](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Accal1a/gifts), [TeachMePatience](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TeachMePatience/gifts), [keepthekettleon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/keepthekettleon/gifts).



> **PLEASE HEED THE TAGS.**  
>   
> 
> This was written as an expansion to a drabble, as requested by Team Angst of the Lemon Squad. The original drabble can be found [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13438068/chapters/31935471), if you need to know spoilers for the ending.
> 
> Both the drabble and this fic were inspired by the poem _Annabel Lee_ by Edgar Allan Poe (which I have summarily butchered...).

 

 

_It was many and many a year ago,_  
_In a kingdom by the sea,_  
_That lived a prince that the gods had made_  
_To love and be loved by me._  
_We loved with a love that was more than love_  
_In this kingdom by the sea,_  
_And the angels - not half so happy in Heaven,_  
_Went envying him and me._

 

"Adulterer! Whore!"

The prisoner had been stripped of her garments, her neck, wrists and ankles bound by magical restraints. As the cart made its way down the streets, the crowds would pelt the poor woman with all manner of foul things - rotten food, mud, feces. And even those were probably not as bad as the sharp rocks that cut and bruised the skin when they hit the prisoner.

Magnus tried not to let his distaste show as they paraded the prisoner down the streets towards the grand temple that had been raised in honour of Poseidon, where a bowl of her blood would be offered to the gods in penance before she was burnt at stake. It was barbaric, inhumane, unenlightened. So much for the shining jewel of the ocean and descendants of the old gods that Atlantis prided itself in being.

The way the Atlanteans told it, Poseidon had fallen for a mortal woman, and had settled their offspring in this land of plenty, sheltered from storms and disasters. And despite their moral bankruptcy, Magnus had to admit that whatever he'd seen of the kingdom _was_ impressive - sophisticated technology way beyond even that of Athenian master craftsmen, used both for war and leisure; beautiful works of art, song and writing that moved him even though some of it was alien to him in their philosophy; and such bounty from nature, fruit from the oceans and of the earth that could feed the people of Atlantis for centuries and centuries to come. 

Once, there had been ten kingdoms in the scattered islands that made up Atlantis, each kingdom of equal might and standing (or so they said), ruling Atlantis together under a common set of laws. But despite the laws they had laid down for themselves preventing one kingdom from turning on another, they had turned on each other anyway. The law had stated that a king and his line could only be exterminated if all the other nine kingdoms agreed upon it - so one by one they had conspired to bring about each other's deaths, until only three kingdoms remained. The Truebloods, to the east, which had allied itself by marriage to the largest kingdom, the Lightwoods, to the west. And the smallest but most ambitious of them all, the Morgensterns, only really kept in check by the fact that it was flanked by two larger kingdoms which were already in alliance. Unfortunately, of late it seemed that the Lightwoods and Truebloods had been swayed to Morgenstern's dreams of tyranny, and word of it had reached Athens through their networks of spies.

All these had cumulated in Magnus standing here, posed as a merchant lord from a foreign land. He was no native of Athens, but he had come to call it home, and had felt honour-bound to serve in the war against Atlantis. Besides, the royal families of Atlantis had one more advantage over the Athenians - _magic_. That, at least, Magnus had in common with the Atlanteans.

"It's cruel, is it not?" someone said to Magnus, distracting him from his thoughts. 

Magnus turned to the speaker, surprised at his boldness in criticising the law of the land. He was young, which explained his naivety in spouting something so contentious to a complete stranger; but tall and handsome, which perhaps excused him somewhat, in Magnus' eyes at least.

“I saw the look on your face,” the stranger explained. Magnus wondered if he was a spy, if his cover had been blown so easily. He was certainly dressed in a way that would help him conceal his identity - a shapeless, dark cloak obscuring his clothes, the hood pulled partway over his head.

“I am a traveller, allowed here only by the generous hospitality of your king,” Magnus said tactfully. "I am sure you will find my ways as unfamiliar as I do yours."

"Perhaps," he allowed, but before he could say more, another cloaked figure came out of the crowd around them. 

"Alec! For the love of-" the second cloaked figure stopped abruptly when he noticed Magnus looking at him, his mismatched eyes narrowing slightly. "We have to go." 

"Of course." The stranger turned to Magnus. "It was a pleasure to make your brief acquaintance, traveller." 

"And I, yours," Magnus murmured, frowning as the two of them disappeared into the crowd.

 

\--- 

 

The geography of Atlantis was as such: the grand temple of Poseidon on the peak of the highest mountain range in the middle, with the whole mountain range declared a neutral ground for the three kingdoms. Radiating outwards from the temple were the three kingdoms, separated by canals and aqueducts and linked by bridges for trade. The Lightwood palace was a grand thing of ivory and gold, easily the grandest of the three palaces, and was surrounded by fountains and springs that ran with sweet waters both hot and cold, fragrant gardens that brought delight to the senses, and groves of beautiful trees growing tall and proud due to the excellence of the soil. The palace was separated from the rest of the city by guardhouses, then a deep moat.

Magnus had an audience with the king the next day, as part of a delegation meant to discuss trade between Atlantis and lands ranging from nearby Egypt to distant Tyrrhenia. Magnus' task had been to use the opportunity to familiarise himself with the lay of the palace, then execute the entire Lightwood royal family - something that would have to be carefully coordinated with the other two assassins that had been planted with the Truebloods and Morgensterns, lest it brought war to Athens. Other than King Robert and Queen Maryse, Magnus knew there were three Lightwood children: the Crown Prince Alexander, his sister Isabelle, and the youngest, still merely a boy, named Maxwell. There was also an orphan boy who had been born to the former kingdom of Herondale, the last remaining in his line, who was the head of the Crown Prince's personal guard and would undoubtedly be made the general of the kingdom's army when his friend became king.

Magnus couldn't help thinking about the stranger he'd met the previous day, whom his friend had called 'Alec'. Alec... _Alexander_? 

The trade meetings were long and tedious, and of little interest to Magnus except for King Robert's obvious interest not in trading with Egypt but in invading it. They broke for a sumptuous meal that Magnus was careful to eat very little of, and after they had dined, King Robert announced that his son and heir to the throne would be joining them. 

The moment the Crown Prince walked in, Magnus' suspicions were confirmed - 'Alec' was none other than the heir apparent, who appeared to have a surprising penchant for wandering amongst his people incognito, and who it seemed did not approve of the punishments prescribed by his ancestors. _Interesting_.

The Crown Prince was dressed in rich robes of azure, the royal colour of all the three kingdoms, and had the grace to blush when he met Magnus' eye. Magnus smiled at him to indicate that his secret was safe with him, and Prince Alexander nodded in acknowledgement and gave him a small smile in return.

Unfortunately, that smile was not to make a reappearance as the meeting wore on; the Prince's brows grew more and more furrowed as he listened to his father. By the end of the day, when the delegates were invited to join the royal family in the banquet hall for a farewell feast, he looked almost livid. Interest piqued, Magnus abandoned his initial plans to sneak around the palace pretending to be haplessly lost when everyone was distracted, and approached the Prince instead. After all, cultivating the Prince's trust and friendship would likely be more useful than blundering around the palace on his own. 

"Your Highness," he greeted him politely. 

"Good evening, Lord Eleutherios. I'm afraid I owe you my gratitude," the Prince replied.  

"Not at all. I understand."

"Would you- could I request the pleasure of your company, for a walk in the gardens?" the Prince asked quickly. "It's just that... you seem sympathetic." 

"I would be delighted," Magnus replied with a smile.

 

\--- 

 

A bright flame burst into being right in front of Magnus' face - he caught the missive, read it, and frowned, then replied with one of his own - _"Not yet."_

 

\---

 

Alec was already waiting for him at their quiet spot overlooking the harbour, disguised in rough garments and his travelling cloak and watching the ships come in. 

"Well met, traveller," Alec said softly, when Magnus came to stand beside him.

Magnus took a deep breath, then let it out again. The waves filled in the silence between them.

"I have not been entirely honest with you," Magnus said.

"I know," Alec replied. "You are not who you claim to be. Jace does not trust you, and made his own enquiries."

"How long have you known?"

"Long enough." 

"Why have you not said anything?" 

"Because I have not been entirely honest with you either," Alec said, turning away from the water to look at Magnus.

"That is where you are wrong, Alexander. You wear your heart on your sleeve," Magnus told him. 

"And it does not... disgust you?" Alec asked, and it made Magnus' heart ache to hear the fear in his voice. 

"Far from it. Where I come from, we are not judged by who we love. And even if that were not the case, I could hardly judge you for feeling the same way that I do," Magnus said quietly.

Alec looked surprised, then joyful. It only made Magnus feel more wretched. 

"Does it not bother you that you do not know my name, or who I really am?" Magnus asked him.  

"I may not know your real name, but I _do_ know who you really are," Alec said. 

Magnus shook his head. "You do not understand, Alexander. My alliance lies with Athens. I was sent here to kill you and your family."

Alec did not speak for a long while. "More than a season has passed - we spend so much time together, alone, that if you had wanted to kill me, I would be long dead. And now you tell me that you are an assassin sent by our enemy, knowing full well that by the law of Atlantis I could sentence you to the most horrific of deaths."

He placed a gentle hand on Magnus' cheek, and Magnus looked into his eyes to find nothing but love and forgiveness.

"You see, I do know you. I know who you are, inside your heart," Alec said.

 

\---

 

"So what other secrets have you been keeping from me?" Alec whispered into Magnus' ear. 

Magnus half-turned in Alec's arms, closing his eyes when Alec kissed his collarbone. The windows were wide open, letting in the smell of the sea on a gentle afternoon breeze. How tempting it was to imagine that they would forever be safe here, cocooned in each other's arms. They could almost forget that they were plotting a revolution that could easily end in the deaths of many, that Magnus was ignoring the increasingly desperate and angry missives from his comrades for the selfish desire to stay in this moment a little longer, and that Alec's best friend and sister were putting themselves at great risk finding these places for them to indulge in these stolen afternoons together. 

"I was sent to Atlantis because of my particular talents."

With a flick of his finger, Magnus lit the candle in the lamp on the table, then extinguished it again. Alec pulled away from him slightly, shock on his face. 

"You have magic." 

"As do you."

"Actually, I don't," Alec admitted. "It is one of the many ways in which I have disappointed my father, another reason why he feels I am not fit for the throne."

"What do you mean?" 

"You know that our magic all stems from our supposed connection with Poseidon. My father parts the waves, my mother makes the water sweet, my sister brings the storm, Jace has a way with horses, and even my baby brother is learning to call the tides. Our magic usually manifests itself by the time we are thirteen, but so far I have shown no signs of magic, big or small."

Magnus rubbed a thumb soothingly over Alec's bare hip. "Magic is as much a blessing as it is a curse."

"I am sure that is true," Alec conceded. "How much worse it must seem, to know that you can do what must seem impossible to an ordinary man, and yet discover that there are things that are still impossible for you."

"No man is ever just ordinary, and even the most ordinary-seeming of us can sometimes do the most extraordinary things," Magnus said. "You never need magic to be extraordinary to me, Alexander." 

"And you have magic enough for the both of us," Alec said with a grin, mischief and intent clear in his voice, and Magnus laughed. 

"Would you like a demonstration, Your Highness?"

"If you must."

"Then your wish is my command," Magnus murmured, before he rolled Alec under him.

 

\---

  

When the end came, it came swift and without warning.

The fire message from Dorothea had driven a bolt of fear through his heart - he should have known that Raphael would get impatient. After that, it was a frenzy to get Isabelle and Max away. They had made arrangements for them to flee on a ship off into the unknown, with a letter from Magnus tucked safely in her dress so that should they manage to get to Athens they would be able to find succour. Magnus, Alec and Jace had then led the rest of the kingdom's army on a wild goose chase to give them time to get to the ship, before the three made their way to catch a separate ship waiting in the harbour, but they were cornered in sight of the shoreline. 

"You go!" Jace shouted, turning his horse around and unsheathing his sword.  

"Jace!" Alec protested.

"Go!" Jace roared, then charged at the approaching troops. 

Alec and Magnus both turned their horses back, unwilling to leave Jace behind. They fought hard, and they fought well - Alec and Jace slashing at their foes like they were of one mind, and Magnus throwing fireballs from his hands - but there were too many of them.

"No!" Alec yelled in horror as a blade pierced Jace's heart and his friend fell off his horse, lost to them forever. 

They would have preferred to fight to the death after that, but luck was not on their side, and they were both captured alive.

 

\---

 

"The Truebloods are dead, as are the Morgensterns," Robert Lightwood told them. "But one of the guards managed to apprehend the assassin who slaughtered the Morgensterns, and in the end he told us of Athen's plot."

"You mean you tortured it out of him," Alec said through gritted teeth.

His father ignored his outburst. "Common criminals are burnt in the sacred fires of Poseidon's temple, their ashes condemned to the wind. Those of royal blood, if they are found guilty of crimes punishable by death, are buried alive bound in iron, where the earth will stifle their magic," King Robert smiled maliciously at Magnus, then at Alec. "But what to do with _you_ , unnatural wretch that you are?" 

"You- you _monster_ ," Magnus seethed. "I don't care if you kill me, but you can't do that to him! He's your _child_ , your own blood-"

"He sealed his own fate when he let you despoil him," King Robert said coldly. The Queen turned her face away, unable to hide her sorrow any longer.

"Then I lay a curse on you, and on all of this land," Magnus said, struggling to keep his voice even. "I curse you with fire, and I curse you with the wrath of the gods. The earth will break and the ocean will turn against you."

"Empty words from a doomed man," the king sneered. 

Then the guards carried in two coffins with iron locks, and Magnus' blood ran cold.

"Magnus," Alec said quietly, eyes wide and desperate with fear he was trying not to show, and Magnus knew then the hopelessness Alec had spoken of - of knowing that all of his magic couldn't save the one he loved.

Magnus snarled and fought against the guards, against the heavy runed iron cuffs that they had used on him so he could not use his magic, to no avail. Alec was struggling too, kicking at the guards, horrorstruck when they started forcing Magnus into the coffin. 

"Magnus!"

They were pressing the crushing lid down on him now, blocking Alec from his sight - then there was terrifying shout of agony.

"Alexander!" Magnus cried out an instant before the lid was forced shut.

There was a grinding of metal and keys, then the coffin was lifted; there was the scraping of boots, and the coffin started swinging nauseatingly side to side. Already Magnus could feel the air in the coffin starting to grow thin - or was it just his imagination? He struggled to turn over so he could pit the strength of his arms and back against the coffin lid even as the coffin tilted, vainly trying to hear any sound from outside the coffin that might belong to Alec, but all he heard was his own harsh breathing. 

The coffin swayed alarmingly, making Magnus feel disorientated - then he was aware that the coffin had been set down, and it was shoved violently backwards so that Magnus was jolted around inside the suffocating space. There was a heavy thud against the lid - then silence so deafening that Magnus immediately knew that they had abandoned him to his terror and miserable fate.

"Alexander!" Magnus yelled, but his cry was locked in with him, inside the earth.

Tears were welling up in his eyes - he didn't want his last memory of Alec to be that horrible cry of pain and fear. He wanted to believe Alec had been saved, that it all been a ruse, that only he had been doomed to this. It would not matter if he died, not if Alec could go on living.

It was getting harder to breathe now, his lungs starting to burn. His wrists were still shackled behind his back, his magic trapped impotently inside him. He used the last of his strength to lean against the coffin lid, even though he knew it was futile. 

Then the ground began to tremble. 

Magnus stilled. There was a low, insistent rumbling that he was feeling in his bones rather than an actual sound, and it seemed to be coming from deep underground. The rumbling was getting stronger, closer - he heard a loud crash outside the coffin, then a voice, unmistakably Alec's.

"Magnus!"

"Alexander!" Magnus tried to yell, but there was no air in the coffin - he had no idea if he'd actually made a sound or if he'd just dreamed it. Maybe it was all a dream - it had to be.

There was a splintering sound, the coffin shuddering from the force of the blows being rained on it, then the lid opened and for an instant Magnus was blinded by the sudden light, dim though it was. Magnus took in a desperate gulp of fresh air.

"Magnus," Alec breathed, the relief in his voice palpable, then his gentle hands were guiding Magnus out of the coffin and out of the hollow in the wall.

Magnus fell to his knees, legs giving way under him as the tremors made it impossible to walk, and Alec stumbled and fell with him. Vision clearing, Magnus took in the sight of Alec, impossibly alive - his clothes were torn, half his face was bloody and his hair matted from a wound on his head, but he was _alive_. 

The tremors under them were strong enough to jar his bones now, an ominous creaking echoing through the underground catacomb they were in. Was it... an earthquake? 

"What happened?" Magnus asked Alec.

"I... my mother sacrificed her life so I could escape, but the guards caught up with me, and-" Alec swallowed hard. "Magnus, Atlantis is sinking."

Magnus stared at him in surprise. "You did this?"

"I did this," Alec said in sorrow. "I am sorry, Magnus. I have doomed us." 

_Earth Shaker_. That was what his Alexander was, his power in all its terrible glory drowning Atlantis beneath the waves. Because Poseidon was the god of the oceans and seas and horses, but also the god of earthquakes.

"My people - I have failed them," Alec said, his voice trembling. "They are all going to die. Oh god, Magnus - what have I done?" 

"Shhh, darling," Magnus whispered. What was the use of regrets? He only wished he could have put his arms around Alec one last time. Instead, he leaned into Alec's body, and Alec held him tight. "I love you."

"And I love you," Alec whispered back, voice breaking, and his eyes fell shut as he kissed Magnus. Magnus tasted blood and tears, and his own eyes fell shut as well as a different sound rose in the distance, growing nearer and nearer.

The last thing he heard was the roar of the sea.

 

  

_But neither the angels in Heaven above_  
_Nor the demons down under the sea_  
_Can ever dissever my soul from his soul;_  
_In death we now are free_  
_And so, all the night-tide, we lie now side by side_  
_Oh my darling - my life - my love, right where we died_  
_In our sepulchre there by the sea -_  
_In our tomb by the sounding sea._


End file.
